Lenin's Tomb

From the Stop the War Coalition:

GOVERNMENT BLOCKS GAZA DEMONSTRATION AT ISRAELI EMBASSY

Ministers are obstructing the holding of a national demonstration on Saturday
to protest against the Israeli invasion of Gaza, march organisers said today.

Officials of the Royal Parks Agency, acting under the authority of Culture
Secretary Andy Burnham, have blocked a plan to hold a rally in Kensington
Palace Gardens near the Israeli Embassy in London.

The demonstration, organised by the Stop the War Coalition, Palestine
Solidarity Campaign and British Muslim Initiative, is expected to attract tens
of thousands of people from across the country, outraged at the massacre of
Palestinians taking place in Gaza.

"The arrangements for our march and rally were notified to the police days
ago," Stop the War Coalition chair Andrew Murray said today. "We have now

Copyleft of Lenin's Tomb

A great article by Avi Shlaim which, aside from punching holes in Israeli propaganda, points out that while Israel is a "rogue state" that practises terrorism and threatens the use of weapons of mass destruction, the Palestinians have built "the only genuine democracy in the Arab world" against all odds. A point worth remembering next time one of Israel's chronically self-righteous apologists pleads that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle East".Copyleft of Lenin's Tomb

Jim Holstun and Joanna Tinker on Electronic Intifada:

For more than four months after 19 June 2008, Hamas refrained from any military actions that might endanger the negotiated truce or "calm" with Israel.

The evidence for this is ready to hand. For example, the Wikipedia entry on the events of the summer, "List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2008" (revised 4 January 2008), based almost exclusively on Israeli newspapers and government sources, confirms that there were no rocket or mortar attacks claimed by or plausibly attributed to Hamas during the calm. This can also be verified by surveying archives of news reports from the period.

My article in Socialist Worker on Israel's propaganda efforts. Also, Simon Assaf has an excellent article on Israel's strategy of terror against the Palestinians.Copyleft of Lenin's Tomb

"At least 40 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a United Nations-run school in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources have said.

People inside had been taking refuge from the Israeli ground offensive."

Despite the BBC's hectic schedule of relaying pro-Israel propaganda (and it truly is an outstanding effort on their part), they manage to have found someone to go into Gaza and report directly on the humanitarian situation. Here, Rushdi Abu Alouf reports from the al-Shifa hospital, where he interviews a Norwegian medic who angrily disputes Israel's claim that it does not target civilians. He describes it as the worst man-made disaster he has seen. Interestingly, the idea that there is some human - as opposed to natural or divine - agency involved in this slaughter seems rather out of place in the overall coverage. Still, I admit there is nothing subversive about the BBC's sideshow.

Guest post by redbedhead:

Quick point, since this keeps coming up in the papers. Obama's silence on Gaza might strike some as cowardly. To others it must seem an improvement on him opening his mouth and saying something disgustingly obsequious about Israel's right to 'defend' itself. In fact, he has relied on his advisors and spokespeople drip-feeding his pro-Israeli sentiments to the media, so it is obvious that he is basically sympathetic to Israel's attack. However, a small mystery remains. Obama has spoken out on a number of issues, including the economy and the bail-out, so his sudden pretence that he is cleaving to the 'one president at a time' rule (the one that he just invented as a rationalisation for remaining schtum) is an unconvincing one.

For a freezing Sunday afternoon, on the day after a huge demo in the centre of London has already taken place, today's protest was great. Hundreds of people gathered for a very militant emergency protest against Israel's invasion of Gaza. I am constantly amazed by the speed at which people have moved on this. The big one will undoubtedly be on Saturday, but in the meantime I think you could almost guarantee there will be protests all week. Here are some initial pics:

Via Hossam:

أهل العريش يهتفون يا مبارك يا طيار يملبسنا توب العار
by monempressCopyleft of Lenin's Tomb

In a way, the few increasingly deranged voices spewing pro-Israeli propaganda, right when it is engaged in a degenerate war against civilians underwritten by a military doctrine that deems collective punishment a virtue, are talking themselves into a corner. The more strident their voice, the less convincing they are. They more voluble they are, the less they have to say. And, the more emotive their language, the more barbarous is their logic - but then, as Jung once supposedly said, sentimentality is a superstructure covering brutality. So, then, consider this eye-opening tribute to Israeli humanitarianism - in Jenin, no less:

I can't say an exact figure, but tens of thousands turned out for today's protest, more than beating my expectations - more than that, it was a very militant protest, comparable to the response to the invasion of Lebanon. The StWC estimates a turnout of about 75,000. Reportedly, between hundreds and thousands turned out for respective demonstrations in Wales, Glasgow (5,000), Manchester (3,000), Edinburgh (thousands), Leeds (800), Birmingham (300), Portsmouth (500), and Brighton (2-300), to name but a few. I am quite sure that the police are putting an insultingly low figure on the turnout for the media's consumption, but they ought to bear in mind that, apparently, policemen are no longer civilians.

From the Stop the War Coalition:

STOP ISRAEL'S CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
EMERGENCY PROTEST AGAINST GROUND INVASION
SECOND NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION CALLED
DAILY PROTESTS AT ISRAELI EMBASSY

Following the start of Israel's ground invasion of Gaza, an
emergency demonstration for Sunday 4 January and a daily
programme of protests has been announced, culminating in a
second national demonstration in London on Saturday 10
January. (See below for details.)

Israel is escalating its already barbaric attacks on Gaza by
sending in ground troops, which will inevitably lead to the
killing of yet more civilians, including many women and
children, and will deepen the humanitarian catastrophe which
the United Nations says Palestinians are suffering.

UN representative Richard Falk says, "The magnitude, the

Just a thought. Whether it's Mad Mel sputtering about Ed Hussain's apostasy, or a member of Labour Friends of Israel expressing dismay over the attack on Gaza, isn't there some suggestive evidence accruing that Israel's usual allies are divided by this assault, and particularly by the sheer viciousness of it? Even the most pro-Israel constituency in the world, the American public, is divided, with 44% backing the attacks and 41% opposed.

"There is no humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce."Copyleft of Lenin's Tomb

Seen on the Falls Road, Belfast:

Copyleft of Lenin's Tomb